1891 Census lookup -Essex please

[bh1]

I am trying to trace my great grandfather Henry Harrington.  All  I know is that my grandmother Muriel Alice was supposedly born in Walthamstow, Essex in 1904, but I cannot find her birth certificate.  Her father's name comes from her marriage certificate, but he was already dead by then.

Can anyone help please?

Thanks
BH

[helenbee]

Hi there,

I have had a look but there are quite a few Henry Harringtons in Essex!

Do you know what his profession was (should be on his daughter's marriage cert)? Also, any other info about them can help, however small. If you know when & where he died I can look that up and work out his year of birth - or if you have his death cert it should give his age.

Come back to me and I'll have another look.

Helen

[bh1]

Hi Helen,

Thanks for looking.

I believe his full name is Henry Arthur Harrington and on the marriage certificate his occupation was given as a Master Builder.  From what my mother can remember, he was killed in the first world war in france but we don't know where.  My grandmother lived in Cape Town, South Africa for a while when she was young so he must have been in the army there at some point too.  We think there were 2 more children, a boy and a girl, who may have been twins.

That's the sum total of what we know at the moment.

Thanks for any help.

Barbara

[Bryant]

Hello Barbara

Their is only one Henry Arthur Harrington in the campaign medals list....could he be yours?
Middlesex Regiment 5th Battalion, rank of Private, Reg No G/88
If you obtain his Army records it could/should reveal all.........if they exist? as a majority got destroyed in the Second World War.

www.documentsonline.nationalarchives.gov.uk/research.asp

? Do you live anywhere near Kew

Regards
Bryant

[bh1]

Hi Bryant,

Thanks for that info.  I actually live in Kent, but it would not be too difficult to get to Kew.

Regards
Barbara

[Bryant]

Barbara

Might well be worth a visit........The National Archives at Kew......very helpful people....and you could come away with a story...true one at that
If you do decide to visit...you need proof of ID...passport/driving licence that sort of thing....visit their home page to see what they can provide....
If you are able to get his Army records it could well show date of enlistment...postings...next of kin...wife...children...address at time of enlistment...where he was killed!

His medal roll you can get by paying £3-50 (I think it is ?) online, this could give you an indication of what Country he died in...


And as for your Grandmother.......don't be surprised if her name was not Muriel Alice Harrington at all!.....the ladies of the times liked changing their names to ones that suited them I have a family full of them.......

West Ham
Created 1st July 1837.
Sub-districts : Canning Town; Forest Gate; Leyton; North East Ham; North Leyton; Plaistow; South East Ham; South Leyton; Stratford; Walthamstow; Wanstead; West Ham.


Regards
Braynt

[helenbee]

Hi again,

I've had another trawl through both 1891 and 1901 to look for Henry but no obvious contender. I agree with Bryant that if you are sure he was killed 1st ww, then the NATIONAL aRCHIVES at Kew would be a useful place to start.
Could your grandmother and her siblings have been born in South Africa? That might explain why her birth was not registered here. that or she did indeed use a different name to that she was given at birth, whuich as Bryant says, was very common at that time.

I'll do a bit more digging and see what I can find,

Helen

[Bryant]

Barbara

Their is a possibility that your gr grandfather was stationed in SA during the Boer War & stayed (after 1901)?

Try looking at home first...your grandmothers name was Alice?.... tradition states that their is a possibility that Alice could be her mother's name? especially if first born!

Their are well over a thousand Harrington's in the National Archives for the period of the 1914-18 War........but only one Henry Arthur Harrington

If the Henry Arthur Harrington as seen in the medals list is yours?  he could be deemed as  unlucky as the Middlesex 5th Battalion (also known as The Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a reserve Regiment along with the 6th Battalion in the first World War and never left these shores throughout the War...except as drafts.
Use google or search engine of your choice and install...Middlesex Regiment 5th Battalion

Bryant